I have passed the Osteria Francescana many times before while perusing through Modena. If you are a tourist, visiting for the first time, it is highly unlikely that you will pass it unless you specifically plan to go past. It is off the historic main streets on a mainly residential side street.
Rated the number 3 restaurant in the whole world by San Pellegrino, it belongs to Chef Massimo Bottura, considered the BEST CHEF in the World, and recent winner of the White Guide Global Gastronomy Award (the Culinary Nobel Prize). The entry is very unassuming, outside there are some flowers, plaques and the name on a brass plate.
The plaques on the left are from Le Soste, the Italian group of 75 member restaurants representing excellence in Italy and worldwide and the historic Gastronomical Association Les Grandes Tables du Monde – Tradition et Qualité.
The first time I went by 4 years ago, I stood very close to the door to see if I could hear the people inside! There are no windows, nothing that would even give you a hint as to what the environment is like inside and who dines there.
The fact that the restaurant’s entryway blends so well into its neighborhood, and the little information about the experience, inside gives it a subtle V.I.P, “member’s only” presence, without being unbearably snob.
I tried to open the door, but it was locked! I rang the door bell and at least 4 different waiters and hosts were there to meet me.
My first experience with the Osteria Francescana was lunch and I was accompanied by Zeno, my 23 month old son. I’ve written about why I went with Zeno here!
I walked in, with my son holding a tigella (he was hungry!) and I said “I bet I am the first person to enter into the Francescana with a tigella!”
Hehehe, yikes…. Thank goodness the staff were so nice and didn’t make a big deal about it at all. Actually, one of the things that I found astonishing was how incredibly nice all of the staff were, the most courteous are the ones that have been there the longest, they even brought me a special glass for Zeno (I was totally surprised!)
The Osteria Francescana, has a surprisingly simple décor. The walls were a dark, medium grey with a plum undertone and the ceilings were fairly high. There were a few interesting architectural angles and curves along the walls but nothing that was overly strange or breathtaking. Everything was subdued, clean and pleasant.
All of the furniture, table linen, cutlery, chairs, glasses and vases were very classic, but the overall atmosphere was modern without being too modern.
What is an Osteria?
The word “Osteria” is derived from the antique French word Oste, which comes from the latin hospitis, meaning host, guest and stranger!
In fact, in Italian, you use the word “ospita” to say both guest AND host, and it is one concept that I really love. I think language and how we speak about our situations influences greatly how we live those situations.
In modern Italian society “Osteria” is often used to describe a simple restaurant with simple food, atmosphere and décor. The Osteria Francescana certainly doesn’t have simple food, but I can see how the décor is deliberately simple with few distractions. This place was not about smoke and mirrors, they clearly don’t need to wow me with the environment, because the food will be enough. There were many things to look at but nothing that would take your attention away from the food.
First Impressions
When you enter, you can either go to the dining room on the right (which was already full with other diner’s during Thursday’s lunch), or to the left to another two smaller private dining areas. I was led to the left down a corridor.
O.k. let’s talk about first impressions, what would you think of the World’s Best Chef who in his 3-Michelin starred, top 3 International restaurant has this waiting for his guests:
An over-hanging branch with three pigeons and a BIG, BLACK, FULL Garbage bag sitting under them!!
HILARIOUS!
Obviously Chef Massimo Bottura is funny! It’s clear that he has a sense of humour and lightens up the mood by making fun of the whole environment.
I’m about to have what will most likely be the best meal of my life and all I can think of is the smell of garbage! I majored in Visual Art and Art History in University, so I loved this idea, it totally throws you for a loop of what you would expect to find in this haute restaurant. All of a sudden, I felt much more relaxed in there.
And so, I sat in one of the World’s Best Restaurants last week on Thursday, with my toddler beside me in a private dining room, with Billie holiday playing in the background, surrounded by black and white photographs of Edith Piaf and a large arial view of Rome, and I had what I will forever remember as a culinary vacation.
So What Was It Like?
Describing to a friend the other day what the experience was like, I used the analogy of reading a very good book. When I am towards the end of a very good book, I start to read very slowly, aware that each word I read takes me closer to the end. I know some people who just can’t wait to finish it and read the last few pages as quickly as possible, but I am the opposite.
I am known to have the last 30 pages of a book last for a month, limiting myself to a page a day.
And, like this, in the Francscana I held the food in my mouth for as long as possible, breathed deeply while eating to smell each bite and closed my eyes so I wouldn’t be distracted by what was around me.
Read about the dishes I ate in the second part of this series.
If you’re thinking about going to the Osteria Francescana and you’re already wondering how it will measure up to a simple plate of tortellini or a good lasagna DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. This experience is not for you.
Comparing Massimo Bottura’s creations with traditional Italian food is like comparing a family vacation to an all inclusive resort in Florida, to a trip to a Tibetan Monestary for a month of meditation – they are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS and CANNOT BE COMPARED.
I don’t need to tell you “if it was good or not”, I will leave that to the experts, who last week awarded him what is considered the Nobel Prize of Gastronomy.
I will, however, share my experience the only way I think does it justice in a series! Part 2 in this series will focus on the meal that I had, and part 3 will come NEXT WEEK, because I am treating my husband to a dinner at the Osteria Francescana this Wednesday night. I will be ordering his “Sensations” menu, which is the epitome of their research.
A bit about Chef Massimo Bottura
Image of Massimo Bottura from the 2014 Lavazza Calendar “Inspiring Chefs”
He is January, and is photographed in Milan’s Ambrosiana Library.
http://calendar2014.lavazza.com/
I think he has a pretty good sense of humour, based on the pigeons in the hallway, and the fact that he was really easy going with my son Zeno, and gave him a high-five!
I’ve never read his biography. But surprisingly, in a medium-sized city like Modena, at least once a month you meet someone connected somehow to Bottura!
I know that Massimo Bottura is married to a contemporary art loving New Yorker (who runs another great restaurant in Modena) and that he has kids. I even know their ex-babysitter because her daughter is the same age as my son.
I know that his mother, who recently passed away, was a fantastic chef and a wonderful person. My friend Marilena worked with her, helping her cook and make food for the entire family. Marilena always said that each time she helped Bottura’s mother she learned something new. So I like to think of the World’s Best Chef as being someone who started to love cooking because of his mom! But he’s been known to reference his grandmother as well!
A few years ago I read this article in Forbes Magazine, The Best Restaurant In Italy — Or Best Restaurant In The World? It is pretty much the basis for what I know about him as a chef.
Osteria Francescana’s chef owner, Massimo Bottura, worked for Ferran Adria at elBulli, currently sits on his food advisory board, and also worked for Alain Ducasse at the vaunted Louis XV in Monaco…
San Pellegrino also named him the Best Chef in the World, no small honor. He was named the top chef in the country by Italy’s most prestigious food rating group, Gambero Rosso, as well as the nation’s Espresso Guide, and in my opinion, being best in Italy is pretty much the same as being the best in the world, or at least the Western world…
His cuisine is a blend of tradition and revolution, with more focus on tradition than most of his avant-garde peers. While he uses foams and highly technical concentrations and textural modifications, it does not approach the over-the-top alchemy of most molecular gastronomy”
A mutually exclusive relationship
I used to think that Modena is very lucky, because Massimo Bottura has not abandoned it to go and live in New York, London or Paris, but now I realize that I think he would miss Modena too much to be able to leave!! That perhaps he is as connected to this land as the ingredients in the dishes he creates.
He is generous. Not only with his creativity but with his time and efforts. In Modena and Bologna he is Involved in things like “Cuochi Per Un Giorno” (a day dedicated to involving children in the preparation of food with chefs), Il Fico (a new revolutionary grocery store/experience, featuring the absolute best that Italy has to offer) and even judging the best Tortellini contest!
Although the Osteria Francescana has V.I.P prices, I think Bottura is quite generous because he also oversees another restaurant in Modena, the Brasserie Francescetta 58 (little Francesca 58!).
Run in collaboration with Marta Pulini, every plate is 8.50 Euro! If that isn’t accessible, I don’t know what is.
To find out what I actually ate, see the second part of this series, “A Normal Person’s Review of the Osteria Francescana“.